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Title: Jewish New Testament: A Translation of the New Testament That Expresses Its Jewishness by David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament ISBN: 9-6535900-5-7 Publisher: Jewish New Testament Pubns Pub. Date: September, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (9 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: An extremely misleading translation
Comment: This is a horrible translation. Not only are words added to the original Greek but the meanings of the passages are changed. For example, compare the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of Ephesians 2:11-16 with the Jewish New Testament. Pay close attention to what happens to the meaning of the passage in CAPS:
NRSV:
"So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called 'the uncircumcision' by those who are called 'the circumcision' - a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands - remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. HE HAS ABOLISHED THE LAW WITH ITS COMMANDMENTS AND ORDINANCES, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it"
Jewish New Testament:
Ephesians 2:11-16
Therefore, remember your former state: you Gentiles by birth-called the Uncircumcised by those who, merely because of an operation on their flesh, are called the Circumcised - at that time had no Messiah. You were estranged from the national life of Israel. You were foreigners to the covenants embodying God's promise. You were in this world without hope and without God.
But now, you who were once far off have been brought near through the shedding of the Messiah's blood. For he himself is our shalom-he has made us both one and has broken down the m'chitzah which divided us BY DESTROYING IN HIS OWN BODY THE ENMITY OCCASIONED BY THE TORAH, WITH ITS COMMANDS SET FORTH IN THE FORM OF ORDINANCES. He did this in order to create In union with himself from the two groups a single new humanity and thus make shalom, and in order to reconcile to God both in a single body by being executed on a stake as a criminal and thus killing in himself that enmity.
Did you catch that? The NRSV says that Jesus "abolished the LAW
with its commandments and ordinances". The Jewish New Testament says that he destroyed "in his own body the ENMITY occasioned by the Torah". It doesn't even mention that the law has been abolished with its "commandments and ordinances". However, that's what the original Greek says! What a completedly disingenuous translation.
Rating: 2
Summary: Poor
Comment: This is not worth having. Those who do own it should toss it. The translation work is done with reliance upon commentaries, and the Ph.D is not in Biblical languages, but an unrelated field of study. The work here is done with a racial bias (which some may find similar to racism), imposing this perspective upon the Greek text.
Words are altered for the sake of making the translation more "readable" by a particular race, thus isolating other groups, esp. when the intent of the New Testament is for all peoples. This results in strange readings, such as changing Greek names to Hebrew names.
The commentary given is focused in reading into the text rather than exegisis.
Even certain concepts are altered with translation work that does not source from the text, but a bias which tries to prove a point. An example of this is how the concept of "law" is handled. Romans 7 has "a married woman is bound by Torah to her husband while he is alive". This is not only a mistranslation, it is a humorous example. Worse, "works of the law" is treated as "legalistic observance of Torah commands" (Gal. 2:16). Another example--"For through the law" is reworded as "For it was through letting the Torah speak for itself" (Gal. 2:19).
The intent of the translation is to allow for readers of the New Testament to keep the Law, going against the message of Romans 7, Galatians, Colossians, Phillippians 3.
Repeatedly the translation is done counter to the majority of scholarship (which is acknowledged in the commentary with statements to the effect of--"even though no one else believes this").
Only two stars (instead of one) due to the fact that the Bible is used.
Rating: 5
Summary: Much closer to the first century origins...
Comment: I highly reccommend this book, the Complete Jewish Bible, and the Jewish New Testement Commentary, all by Stern.
It is in intriguing peculiarity of Western European and American cultural bias that so many people reviewing this product on Amazon.com write that other editions, such as the Authorized Version of the KJV, are "more reliable." What arrogance!
To presume that an outdated English translation of the original Hebrew and Greek is somehow MORE authoritative is laughable when you consider the KJV translators were living 1,500 years after the time the New Testement was written, and by a group of men who were, primarily, antiSemitic Christians.
It is important to remember that the New Testement was a product of first century Jews (just as our Messiah was a first century Jew).
So you must ask yourself, who is more reliable to turn to when seeking to understand the mind of first century Jewish authors... a 20th century Jew, or a bunch of 15th century antiSemites?
This is not meant as an attack upon Christians or even the KJV translators, but simply a challenge to divorce oneself from the cultural bias, completely baseless, that the KJV translation is somehow flawless, holy and uniquely inspired. It is not.
Stern makes no pretensions of this edition of the New Testement being the result of a "committee of translators" as one reviewer on here charged. He freely admits it is solely his own work.
But does single-authorship of a translation make it less valid? If so, perhaps King David, Moses, Paul and other Bible authors should never have set pen to paper without calling together a meeting of all the Biblical apostles.
Now, I'll admit the tone of this review is a bit combative, but I was reacting primarily to certain other reviewers. Do not let that affect how you approach this fine work; although he is the sole author, Stern's Jewish New Testement has its basis in millenia of Jewish thought and really does away with some "commonly accepted truths" embraced by Christians worldwide that are actually textual misunderstandings lost over the centuries due to the widening crevice separating Christians from the Jewish roots of their faith.
Definitely worth your time and serious study.
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Title: Jewish New Testament Commentary: A Companion Volume to the Jewish New Testament by David H. Stern ISBN: 9653590111 Publisher: Jewish New Testament Pubns Pub. Date: October, 1992 List Price(USD): $29.99 |
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Title: Complete Jewish Bible : An English Version of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and B'Rit Hadashah (New Testament) by David H. Stern ISBN: 9653590154 Publisher: Jewish New Testament Pubns Pub. Date: June, 1998 List Price(USD): $34.99 |
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Title: Restoring the Jewishness of the Gospel: A Message for Christians by David H. Stern ISBN: 9653590014 Publisher: Jewish New Testament Pubns Pub. Date: February, 1988 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus: New Insights from a Hebraic Perspective by David Bivin, Roy B. Blizzard ISBN: 156043550X Publisher: Destiny Image Pub. Date: February, 1995 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
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Title: Everyman's Talmud : The Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages by Abraham Cohen ISBN: 0805210326 Publisher: Schocken Books Pub. Date: 07 February, 1995 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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